Half-Life on the PlayStation 2 is an incredible port. Here is why.

Some clarification: The minimum PC specs to run HL were taken from Steam which is different from what is on the original box. I've trimmed out the part where I talk about the PC specs. Sorry for any confusion! Steam : store.steampowered.com/app/70/HalfLife/ Minimum Specs on the original Box : * Pentium 133 MHz * 24 MB RAM * Windows 95/98/NT4 * SVGA video card * Windows-compatible sound card * 2x CD-ROM drive * 400 MB hard-disk space.

The recently discovered mini campaign found via the PlayStation magazine demo disc which can be accessed with a cheat code then the game ejects allowing you to swap discs with the demo disc. It’s all existing game assets rearranged but still super impressive stuff and undiscovered for years! The PS2 port will always have a soft spot in my heart.

You forgot to mention "Alien Mode" which let's you play the campaign as a vortigaunt until you get to Xen and then the game ends with a unique ending, the gameplay changes since you can't use weapons, you have a melee attack and you can fire beams from your heads, you need to "eat" your enemies to heal, health stations will hurt you. There's 2 ways to unlock alien mode. Either get the best rank with both characters in decay on every level or use a cheat code.

It seriously is. This port introduced me to Half-Life and it’s now my favorite game series!!

Half life on the ps2 was my first introduction to half life and inspired my love for first person shooters. Imo it’s the best fps on the ps2 hands down. It’s also one of the few ps2 games that came on a cd rom instead of dvd which makes it even more impressive

This was literally my very first PS2 game. Coming from PS1 and N64 games, having never played the PC original, it really felt like a massive generational leap. The closest comparison point at the time I had was the N64's Perfect Dark, that clearly had taken some notes from HL1 as well, but in terms of character animations, emergent gameplay, the nonstop flow of the game levels and the overall atmosphere + performance were from a totally different level. That intro screen music alone rekindles the early Y2K gaming vibes.

What a great video. I liked the part about comparing polygon counts. So cool, thank you!

Gearbox worked on the Dreamcast version too, but not on the port of the engine but rather the additional content (Blue-Shift) But with the PS2 they seem to have done most of the work themself and it shows. It runs and looks so much better.

Worth noting that while Decay is PS2 exclusive, the community have ported it to PC in various forms as mods for Half-Life and Sven Co-op

The fact you mentioned the music is the best part made me subscribe and like so hard! This menu loop is my phone ringtone and is sooooo good!! It has the element of horror, mixed with mystery and energy that just blows me away!!! Thank you for mentioning the loop music ive been in love with it for YEARS and no other video seems to cover it!! 100% amazing!

Thanks for the video. Always interested in your perspective.

Love retrovideos!! Thanks for the video as always MVG <3

I was really impressed how much details they've changed in this port. It's like finalized version of the game.

The impossible port series is amazing, keep up the good work!

Oh man yes the menu music is soo good! Thanks fir the vid! My brother and i loved playing this in coop and it was the perfect way to ease him into the fps controls on consoles with the lock on. Great times! Also the ten levels weren’t so long in this port!

Your capper of the main menu music sent a chill down my spine. It’s legendary. Good taste, MVG.

I love your deep dives into old ports, it really does make me appreciate some of my older games more knowing the effort some of these software dev's achieved. It's also made me spend money on more games so I can try those I missed out on myself. Great stuff sir!

I LOVE THIS PORT. I didn't own a powerful PC back then and this is how I first experienced half life

Thanks for all this interesting content!

Awesome! Was waiting for an mvg video